Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Nikkor Zoom Lens

Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Nikkor Zoom Lens..

Buy Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Nikkor Zoom Lens By Nikon

Most helpful customer reviews

475 of 485 people found the following review helpful.
Incredible Bargain - Sharp Lens with VR for $250!
By Amazon Customer
This lens is sharp even at wide apertures, the VR (image stabilization) works great, autofocus speed is more than acceptable, and it it is very light and compact. The fact that it costs $250 and has effective VR is pretty amazing - no other company offers a lens with this feature for anywhere near this price.

As for image quality, search the various internet photo sites, such as dpreview and nikonians for sample photos taken with this lens by real users. The results are impressive! My copy produces similar results. The previous reviewer must have a bad sample.

Of course, the lens is slow (like almost all consumer zoom lenses), in that its widest aperture is smaller than a professional zoom or prime lens, so it's not a good choice for action photography in lower light conditions (like indoor sports without flash or outside sports at dusk). But a fast telephoto zoom will cost at least three times as much and weigh a ton.
I give the lens 5 stars based on a combination of image quality, value, and compactness/lightness.

288 of 299 people found the following review helpful.
VR really works and the price can't be beat.
By K. Plourde
I had the 55-200mm non VR version for about 5 months, sold it to essentally recover my cost, and bought the VR version as a replacement. The non VR version was very compact and light, and produced excellent photos, but the slightly larger VR version is so much more usable I don't miss the other lens at all. The VR works as advertised and allows me to take pictures at 3 times or more lower shutter speeds than the non VR version. While I would love the 18-200mm VR for the convenience, I will never be able to justify the $750 price, so my 18-55mm kit lens and this lens will likely cover my needs as long as I own my camera. I also seriously considered the 70-300mm VR, but couldn't accept twice the price for only 50% more reach. And at twice the length of the 55-200mm non VR version, it would be too awkward for me to carry around. I am very satisfied with this 55-200mm VR lens and if you are considering it, please give it a try. You will not be dissapointed.

351 of 368 people found the following review helpful.
Better than I thought.
By Ricardo
My Nikon ownership goes back over 30 years to the days when cameras were made of metal and carrying one with a few lenses tested your stamina.

Times sure have changed. There's hardly a metal camera to be found and you can carry a bag full of equipment in one hand. The Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor is the latest lightweight from this heavyweight of the camera industry.

Plastic construction right down to its lens mount. This thing looks and feels like the label should say Fisher Price and not Nikon. However, looks can be deceiving as I soon found out.

My only reason for buying this lens was that I needed to fill a void in my kit until I saved up enough for a 70-200mm f2.8. I had no intention of keeping the 55-200 VR once the 70-200 arrived.

After shooting with the 55-200 for a few months I've come to appreciate what it can do. It's limited to use in good light as even VR can't change the laws of physics. In this case, it's not even the current VR-II but the original VR that Nikon developed a few years ago.

With sufficient light and good technique, the 55-200 is capable of very good performance. No, it's not as sharp and contrasty as the 70-200. It's also not going to survive the bad weather or a few solid knocks that professional use would expose it to.

Where the 55-200 excels is in its portability and above average performance. For travel or just walking around, it would be hard to beat this lens if it's used within its limits. I use mine on a D80 and have no problem getting excellent 13x19" prints.

As an added bonus, it works very well with the Nikon CL3T closeup lens and does double duty as a macro zoom. Again, it's not a substitute for a real macro zoom like the Nikon 70-180, but it's not intended to be.

Given my original opinion of this lens, I have to admit that I've gotten much more than my money's worth out of it. Instead of selling it, I'm going to keep it and use it when my 70-200 is just to big and heavy to carry around.

If you're on a budget or just want a nice, lightweight lens in this range, take a look at the Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR. Like me, you may be very much surprised at what it can do.

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Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR

Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR..

Grab Now Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR By Nikon

Most helpful customer reviews

649 of 662 people found the following review helpful.
Great Addition to the DX Line-up
By Jim
First of all I'll say that I ordered my lens as soon as Amazon had them available. I upgraded to next day shipping and got it 18 hours later - quick service. Thanks Amazon!

But now on to the real review...

This lens is fantastic - especially for $399. My first concern was whether it not it had a plastic or metal mount since some DX lenses in this price range have plastic. I even contacted Nikon and they couldn't (or wouldn't) tell me. Well, I was really pleased to see that it does have a metal mount. It has a nice solid feel to it. The zoom movement is smooth and I haven't had any problem with lens creep when I'm aiming it downward. Even when I point the camera downward and shake it, it won't creep.

I'm just beginning to get into testing it but my preliminary pictures are coming out nice - really nice. The sharpness is amazing and the lens produces a very nice bokeh. I posted the image of the dragonfly with the chicken wire background (see the customer uploads) Check out the detail in the wings. That shot says it all. It was HAND HELD and cranked all the way out to 300mm. The original image is great but a lot of the detail was lost with the upload to Amazon. But - none the less - it's still pretty sharp. The auto focus on this lens is fast, smooth, quiet and very accurate. It locked right in on the subject. It was set on aperture priority at f/8 1/500sec for the shot that I posted here (shot with a D-90).

The VR on this lens is great. The detail I get with hand-helds just amazes me. It has Nikon's VRII image stabilization and it even has a tripod detection mode that reduces any vibration from shutter release when it's on a tripod.

Colors are rendered accurately and the contrast is pretty sharp even at the max aperture. The lens is compact for a 300mm and it's lighter than my AF-S DX 18-200mm which I use as my regular walk-around. I'm sure the new 55-300 will be used as my walk around pretty frequently also.

All in all for an APS-C lens, Nikon did a great job with this one - especially for the price. It's a welcome addition to the DX line and I'm really glad I have one in my gear bag.

326 of 338 people found the following review helpful.
Very good lens for the price
By A. Shrestha
Pros:
+ Excellent Image Quality
+ Solid build with metal mount
+ Significantly better in all ways than the Nikon 55-200mm VR

Cons:
- Slight long (but that's expected for a telephoto like this)

I've owned (and subsequently got rid of) the Nikon 55-200mm and Sigma 18-250 OS. This lens beats them both significantly. The Sigma 18-250 OS was pretty nice when I needed to take only one lens with me, but that situation is rare.

I hardly shoot telephoto, but when I do, I'm glad I can turn to this new Nikon 55-300mm VRII lens. Low light focus hunts a little bit, but that's expected - and it's significantly better than the Sigma at equivalent low light.

This lens is much better than the older Nikon 55-200mm VR often sold as part of the kit. That lens feels like a toy with a plastic mount and cheap plastic feel. This lens has a much better build quality. Consequently, it's also more expensive.

If you're debating about the Nikon 55-200mm vs. this lens, I highly recommend you get this lens. I've been very happy with it.

204 of 215 people found the following review helpful.
Skip the 55-200mm VR and get this!
By Emko San
I know it's twice as much but it's well worth it. I took about 150 shots with it this weekend and was blown away. Bokeh is beautiful and it is sharp from 55-300mm. I had the 55-200mm VR and this is a significant step up. It's more solidly built and the results are excellent. It's a huge lens, and heavy, but the shots speak for themselves. Great, great lens!

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